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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz calls state employees back to the office part time • Minnesota Reformer [1]
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Date: 2025-03-25
Gov. Tim Walz announced on Tuesday that most state employees will be required to return to the office for at least half of their scheduled workdays beginning June 1 as more companies and government leaders shift away from remote work that exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This approach balances the flexibility of telework with the workplace advantages of being in office,” Walz said in a release. “Having more state employees in the office means that collaboration can happen more quickly and state agencies can build strong organizational cultures more easily.”
Walz’s office said about 60% of state government workers currently work in-person and about 60% also worked in person during the pandemic. Still, much of Minnesota’s government employees have yet to return to the office fully in the years since the pandemic.
Employees who live more than 75 miles away from their primary work location are exempted from the new policy, Walz’s office stated.
The expansion of remote work during the pandemic has been a boon to both office employees, who can work in sweatpants and skip the daily commute, as well as employers, who’ve been able to downsize and cut their office costs.
But there have also been concerns about a drop in productivity and collaboration from the shift to remote work as well as the cost to cities’ downtowns, which rely on the 9-to-5 workers to shop and eat-out at local businesses.
Walz’s order follows the Trump administration’s move to mandate all federal employees back to the office, which has caused chaos in some agencies without enough office space and parking to accommodate all of their workers.
Like Trump’s order, Walz’s directive faces resistance from the state’s public sector unions.
Megan Dayton, president of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, says the union plans to “fight this with everything we have,” which could include litigation.
“We are incredibly frustrated the governor decided to unilaterally do this. We were not involved in the decision-making or the communication in any way,” Dayton said in an interview. “Our members are really mad.”
Dayton said the policy only increases the state’s costs as it stares down a gloomy budget forecast, while taking away a valuable benefit to workers who’ve now organized their lives around being able to work from home.
She said the union has some loose protections regarding telework in its labor contract, including the right to a meeting with one’s supervisor, though the issue is not subject to a formal grievance procedure.
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter also recently called city employees back to the office at least three days a week beginning April 1.
Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order requiring agency employees to return to the office for at least four days per week. Newsom has harbored hopes for a presidential run, and has tried to align himself with more conservative policies.
Walz appears to also have presidential ambitions. In recent weeks, he has been on the road in Iowa, Wisconsin and most recently Rochester, Minnesota, to host town halls in Republican districts, fueling speculation that he’s gauging a 2028 presidential run.
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